Suicide wave proves we don’t understand the human mind

First it was Kate Spade. Then Anthony Bourdain. It’s time for the “S” word. Suicide, from the Latin suicidium, is the intentional taking of one’s own life. The practice is as old as humanity. Evidence suggests suicides increase during times of great societal hardship.

There were a number of high profile suicides in the United States after the Great Recession in 2008. In 2016 44,965 people took their own lives in the US. That’s twice more deaths than by homicide, and makes suicide the tenth leading cause of death. In 2015, 828,000 people committed suicide worldwide. I don’t know the statistics on suicide in Kenya.